Definitive starter at QB remains elusive for UT

Updated 11:46 pm, Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Texas quarterbacks David Ash and Case McCoy played musical chairs at the position last season.

Texas quarterbacks David Ash and Case McCoy played musical chairs at the position last season.

Photo: Eric Gay, Associated Press

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UT coach Mack Brown says the next scrimmage “will be a big one” in terms of determining personnel decisions.

UT coach Mack Brown says the next scrimmage “will be a big one” in terms of determining personnel decisions.

Photo: AP

Definitive starter at QB remains elusive for UT

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AUSTIN — Within the next month or so, one of the world's largest consumer electronics companies is expected to make an announcement regarding the new version of its most popular device. For enthusiastic customers pining for radical change, one fear is that the forthcoming model will not be markedly different at all, but instead be just a slightly tweaked copy of the one revealed last year.

If that happens, the followers of the never-ending Texas quarterback competition might understand how they feel.

Officially, there's still a chance the Longhorns will name a starting quarterback before their Sept. 1 season-opener against Wyoming. On Tuesday, UT coach Mack Brown reiterated he still hopes that will happen.

But after the first scrimmage of preseason camp, Brown said sophomore David Ash and junior Case McCoy remain even in their race to win the job. And considering that Ash and McCoy have been competing for two springs, two summers, a 13-game season and now more than a week of a second training camp, can the Longhorns really expect anything to change in the next 2½ weeks?

Asked on Tuesday if he was sure that his staff would be ready to name a starter before the Wyoming game, Brown conceded such an announcement is not a certainty. As usual, he chose to focus more on the bright side of having a capable second quarterback than on the downside of not having an official first-teamer.

“We're having more consensus (on the staff) that both could play, and we could still win a game,” Brown said. “Both of those guys give us a chance to win.”

Brown and offensive play-caller Bryan Harsin have raved about the progress of Ash and McCoy, saying both have improved dramatically since this point last season. In splitting time during UT's 8-5 season in 2011, both endured their share of struggles, although it looked like Ash had seized the job when he played all of the Longhorns' Holiday Bowl victory over California.

But Brown and Harsin maintain the job could go either way, much like it did for all of last regular season. In Monday's scrimmage, Ash and McCoy played with the first-team offense against the first-team defense and the second-team defense, Brown said. Of the more than 100 plays that were run, Brown said only one resulted in a turnover — an interception that was tipped by a tight end.

The Longhorns will conduct at least one more scrimmage, and Brown said that “will be a big one” in terms of personnel decisions. But if Ash and McCoy really are even after all this time, will one more scrimmage be the difference-maker?

Brown said he isn't worried.

“We're excited as a staff to have two,” Brown said. “It's a positive that both of them are doing well.”

Kicking picture still murky: Anthony Fera, the transfer kicker from Penn State, did not participate in Monday's scrimmage and is still sidelined with a groin injury. Brown said there is no timetable on his return. In Fera's place, freshmen Ben Pruitt and Nick Jordan are sharing the kicking duties, and Brown said of the seven field goals they attempted, “a couple were missed, and one was blocked.”